Loggia della Podesta, San Gimignano 1926

This is Louis Conrad Rosenberg’s print of the Loggia della Podesta, San Gimignano, and it’s like stepping into a dream of old Italy. Can you feel the sun beating down on those ancient stones? I imagine Rosenberg, squinting in the sunlight, carefully etching those tiny lines into the plate. The way he captures the texture of the stone, it’s like he’s trying to hold onto the past. And those towers—they’re not just buildings, they’re like silent witnesses to centuries of stories. There is so much detail, so much information, but the artist still retains a sense of space, a sense of light that is not filled in. It reminds me of Piranesi, but with a softer touch, a kind of longing. It’s like he’s saying, “Look, this is beautiful, this is real, but it’s also fleeting.” You get the feeling Rosenberg is in love with the place.